Lexic.us

Definition of Penance

1. Noun. Remorse for your past conduct.

2. Noun. A Catholic sacrament; repentance and confession and atonement and absolution.

3. Noun. Voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing.

Definition of Penance

1. n. Repentance.

2. v. t. To impose penance; to punish.

Definition of Penance

1. Noun. A voluntary self-imposed punishment for a sinful act or wrongdoing. It may be intended to serve as reparation for the act. ¹

2. Noun. A sacrament in some Christian churches. ¹

3. Verb. To impose penance; to punish. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Penance

1. to impose a type of punishment upon [v -ANCED, -ANCING, -ANCES]

Medical Definition of Penance

1. 1. Repentance. 2. Pain; sorrow; suffering. "Joy or penance he feeleth none." 3. A means of repairing a sin committed, and obtaining pardon for it, consisting partly in the performance of expiatory rites, partly in voluntary submission to a punishment corresponding to the transgression. Penance is the fourth of seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. "And bitter penance, with an iron whip." (Spenser) "Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do."" (Coleridge) Origin: OF. Penance, peneance, L. Paenitentia repentance. See Penitence. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Penance

penalty goals penalty kick penalty kicks penalty kill penalty kills penalty phase penalty shootout penalty shootouts penalty spot penalty spots

penalty try penalty unit penalty units penam penams penance (current term) penanced penanceless penances penancing

penang penang nut penangs penannular penary penates penbutolol pence pencel pencell

Literary usage of Penance

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann (1913)
"The public penance was not necessarily canonical; it might be undertaken by the ... Solemn penance, the most severe of all, was inflicted for the worst ..."

2. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann (1913)
"At the close, therefore, of the first century, the performance of penance was required, and the nature of that penance was determined, not by the penitent ..."

3. The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper: Including the Series by Alexander Chalmers, Samuel Johnson (1810)
"And now sith I have declared you, what thing is penance, now ye shul understand, that ther ben tirée actions of penance ..."

4. A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church by Henry Charles Lea (1896)
"For at least the first four centuries the Church prescribed only public penance. It is the penance " secundum morem ecclesiae " repeat- edly alluded to ..."

5. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"There are indications, however, that ultimate pardon from God for such sins was not despaired of; the guilty were recommended to do penance and to pray for ..."

6. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages by Henry Charles Lea (1887)
"Penitents who died before fulfilling their penance afforded a specially favorable opportunity for such transactions as these. Death, as we have seen, ..."

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